Rolv Werner Erichsen (2 December 1899 – 22 August 1988) was a Norwegian newspaper editor. He was born in Holt outside

Tvedestrand is municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sørlandet. The administrative center is the town of Tvedestrand. There are many villages in the municipality including Dypvåg, Fiane, Gjeving, Gødder ...

Aust-Agder Aust-Agder (, en, "East Agder") was a county (''fylke'') in Norway until 1 January 2020, when it was merged with Vest-Agder to form Agder county. In 2002, there were 102,945 inhabitants, which was 2.2% of Norway's population. Its area was . The ...

Career

He was born as the eldest son of district physician Stian Erichsen (1867–1953) and his wife Magdalene Susanne Werner (1870–1967). His brother was the future politician and director

Egil Werner Erichsen Egil Werner Erichsen (4 October 1901 – 3 March 2000) was a Norwegian corporate director and politician for the Conservative Party. He was born in Holt outside Tvedestrand in Aust-Agder as a son of district physician Stian Erichsen (1867� ...

(1901–2000). After a failed

examen artium Examen artium was the name of the academic certification conferred in Denmark and Norway, qualifying the student for admission to university studies. Examen artium was originally introduced as the entrance exam of the University of Copenhagen in 1 ...

in 1919 he decided to make a journalistic career, and was employed as a night assistant by the ''

Morgenbladet ''Morgenbladet'' is a Norwegian weekly, newspaper, covering politics, culture and science. History ''Morgenbladet'' was founded in 1819 by the book printer Niels Wulfsberg. The paper is the country's first daily newspaper; however, Adresseav ...

'' newspaper. In the 1920s, Erichsen worked as a journalist in the

Parliament of Norway The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...

, notably covering the

impeachment Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. I ...

case against former Prime Minister

Abraham Berge Abraham Theodor Berge (20 August 1851 – 10 July 1936) was the 15th prime minister of Norway from 1923 to 1924. He was a teacher and civil servant who represented the Liberal Party, the social liberal party, and later Free-minded Liberal Party ...

in 1926 and 1927. In addition to this, he edited the '' Akersposten'' newspaper from 1925 to 1931. A noted conservative, he established an office for the administration of the Conservative Party's newspapers in Oslo. In 1925, he was appointed secretary of the

Conservative Press Association The Conservative Press Association ( no, Den Konservative Presses Forening; shortened DKPF) was a Norwegian media institution whose stated objective was the furtherance of conservative daily newspapers. Amongst its members were editors, journalists ...

. He married Hella Tornøe the same year. In the 1930s, Erichsen advanced positions in ''Morgenbladet''; he became editorial secretary in 1932 and leader of the newspaper's news department in 1938. He was also leader of the editorial board together with Olaf Gjerløw. Following Gjerløw's imprisonment during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Erichsen became alone responsible for ''Morgenbladet'' enterprise; he was its managing director from 1939 to 1947 and its editor-in-chief from 1941 to 1943. Eventually he was also sent to the

Grini concentration camp '', '' no, Grini fangeleir'', location= Bærum, Viken, Norway, location map=Viken#Norway, built by=Norway, original use=Constructed as a women's prison, operated by=Nazi Germany, notable inmates=List of Grini prisoners, liberated by=Harry Söderm ...

by the

German occupants German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

, which meant the immediate cessation of ''Morgenbladet'' printings. He remained at Grini from September 1944 to April 1945. Erichsen returned to his business after the war, acting as editor-in-chief of ''Morgenbladet'' until 1958. Before becoming managing director of the

Norwegian News Agency The Norwegian News Agency ( no, Norsk Telegrambyrå; abbreviated NTB) is a Norwegian press agency and wire service that serves most of the largest Norwegian media outlets. The agency is located in Oslo and has bureaus in Brussels in Belgium and ...

in 1961, he penned three books on the press history of Norway. He became later secretary general of the

Association of Norwegian Editors The Association of Norwegian Editors ( no, Norsk Redaktørforening, NR) is an interest group for editors and middle managers in the various Norwegian media.Østbye, Helge. 2007. The Norwegian Media Landscape. In: Georgios Terzis (ed.), ''European ...

, acting from 1971 to 1978. He chaired the

Norwegian Press Association The Norwegian Press Association ( no, Norsk Presseforbund, NP) is Norwegian association established in 1910, for press people with journalism as their main profession. Among its members are the Norwegian Union of Journalists, the Association of ...

from 1947 to 1954, having formerly been a board member from 1934 to 1939, and also chaired the Norwegian News Agency from 1959 to 1961 and the

Norwegian Journalist Academy Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including th ...

Honours and death

In 1954, Erichsen was decorated as a Knight, First Class of the

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav ( no, Den Kongelige Norske Sankt Olavs Orden; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II ...

. He was also decorated as a Knight of the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known ...

, the

Order of the White Rose of Finland The Order of the White Rose of Finland ( fi, Suomen Valkoisen Ruusun ritarikunta; sv, Finlands Vita Ros’ orden) is one of three official orders in Finland, along with the Order of the Cross of Liberty, and the Order of the Lion of Finland. ...

and the

Order of Vasa The Royal Order of Vasa () is a Swedish order of chivalry, awarded to citizens of Sweden for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce. It was instituted on 29 May 1772 by King Gustav III. It was ...

. He died on 22 August 1988 in Oslo, and was cremated at

Vestre gravlund Vestre Gravlund is a cemetery in the Frogner borough of Oslo, Norway. It is located next to the Borgen metro station. At , it is the largest cemetery in Norway. It was inaugurated in September 1902 and also contains a crematorium (''Vestre kre ...

one week later.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erichsen, Rolv Werner 1899 births 1988 deaths People from Tvedestrand Norwegian newspaper editors Grini concentration camp survivors Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog Knights of the Order of Vasa